Support for drums



Sept. 8,1942. L, M, ABLE I 2,295,318

SUPPORT FOR DRUMS Filed Nov. 28, 1941 v Patented Sept. 8, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUPPORT FOR DRUMS LawrenceM. Able, St. Matthews, S. 0. Application November 28, 1941, Serial No. 420,901

Claims.

My invention relates to' a support for drums, and it is especially useful for supporting drums of the type commonly used for storing the oil supply for an oil-burning stove.

It has been common practice in certain localities for the householder to mount the oil drum on a wood frame constructed against the outside of the dwelling and in contact with the ground. This wooden frame requires considerable time to build; it has a limited life and must be replaced at intervals due to the 'fact that wooden parts which come in contact with the ground soon become rotted. Furthermore, the Wooden supporting frames are unsightly arrangements.

An object of my invention is to devise a support for oil drums which will support the drum from the wall of a building or dwelling and does not require any contact with the ground.

A further object is to devise a drum support which is simple in construction and which may be easily mounted upon a supporting wall or other structure.

Still another object is to devise a suspension type support engaging the end flanges on a drum and embodying means for locking the support to the flanges to prevent accidental disconnection of the support from the drum.

The support which I have devised is a standard type of support which may be used in all locations and may be mounted at any desired height on a supporting wall or other structure.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a drum with the supporting members attached thereto;

Figure 2 is an end view of a drum showing the manner in which the drum is supported by means of the suspension members secured to a supporting wall;

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the details of one of the suspension members;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of Figure 1 showing the hook element of one suspension member in position on the left end of the drum; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view in elevation (on an enlarged scale) showing the hook element of one suspension member secured to the left end of the drum.

Referring to the drawing, l indicates a drum of the type usually employed for the storage of fuel oil. This drum is cylindrical in shape and is provided with cylindrical flanges at each end, and these flanges have beads la formed at their ends and extending beyond the cylindrical surface of the drum. The support which I have devised embodies two crossed suspension members having hook elements on the lower ends thereof which engage the cylindrical flanges on opposite ends of the drum, and the free ends of the suspension members are suitably secured to a supporting wall or other structure. In Figure l the two crossed suspension members are indicated at 2 and 3, the hook-element of the member 2 being engaged with the flange on the left end of the drum while the hook elementof member 3 is engaged with the flange on the right end of the drum. The two members have similar constructions, the only difference being that one member is formed with the hook portion turned in the reverse direction from .the other.

The form of the supporting .member is clearly shown by the member 2 in Figure .3. The membars are preferably formed from rigid material such as metal rod stock. The main part of the supporting member consists of astraightrod portion 2 having suitable means at the upper end thereof for attaching the same to a supporting wall or other structure. Any suitable means maybe employed for this purpose, but I prefer to employ the arrangement illustrated in the drawing and consisting .of a fastening device which is formed by bending a portionof the rod indicated-at 2a at .right angles to the mainbody portion 2, and then bend the end portion 2b back against and parallel with the portion 2a. This doubled portion forms an expansible .plug which is'inserted in a bore or hole formed in the supporting wall or structure 4, and the arrangement is secured in the hole by-separating the two parallel parts 2a and 2b, as by driving a wedge 2c between these parts as shown in Figure"2, thereby securely Wedging the parts 2a and 2b in the supporting bore. Any other suitable securing means may be provided; for example, the upper end of the rod 2 may be formed with an eye, and the rod may be secured to the wall or support by a lag screw passing through the eye of the rod.

The lower end of each supporting member is formed in the shape of a loop, and the end of the loop is bent back out of the plane of the loop to form a hook portion on the lower end of the member to engage the inner surface of the flange on the drum. I prefer to form the loop in the form of a triangular loop having a base section 2d, one side formed of the rod 2 and the remaining side formed of section base M with the rod 2. lar loop i bent back out The base of the trianguof the plane of the 2c connecting the to form a hook element embodying loops 2) and 2g formed in sides 2 and 2e of the triangle and being joined by the base section 2d which engages the inner wall of the cylindrical flange and is shaped to conform with the curvature of this wall, see Figures 1 and 2. A rigid extension or finger 271. is provided on the lower end of the member and is positioned to engage the inner edge of the bead la on the flange of the drum when the two members are in crossed relation, as clearly shown in Figure 5. This finger or extension prevents the hook element from being dislodged or accidentally disengaged from the flange.

The suspension members may be fabricated-in any desired manner, but I prefer to form the portions 2a2b2-Zf--2-d2g-2h of an integral piece bent in the desired form as shown in Figure 3, and the portion 26 is formed of a separate piece welded into position as shown. Each member is provided with a flexible piece of wire (such as 22') welded or otherwise secured to the member near the mid-portion thereof, and this wire is used to bind the two supporting members together in crossed-relation by winding the two wires around the two members at the point of crossing, as shown in Figure 1. g

In using the suspension members for supporting a drum, they are first separately applied to the ends of the drum by bringing the lower looped portion into contact with the flange on the drum while maintaining the member at right angles to the drum and then, while maintaining the hook portion in contact with the flange, the supporting member is inclined into a position where the two members are arranged in crossed relation as shown in Figure 1. During the movement to crossed position, the hook portions of the supporting members move into position underneath the flanges on the drum, and the extensions 271. and 3h move into position to the rear or inner edge of the beads on the flanges and thus prevent the supporting members from being removed from the drum when the two elements are bound together by the binding wires 21'. The members cannot be disconnected from the drum while they are tied together in crossed relation. The members can be disengaged from the flanges only by untying them and swinging the members back until the fingers 2h and 3h can move past the beads 1.

While the support disclosed herein is especially useful for supporting oil drums, it will be obvious that it may be used for supporting any object having the general shape of a drum and provided with beaded flanges on the ends thereof.

What-I claim is:

1. In a support for a drum having externally beaded flanges on the ends thereof, a member comprising a rigid rod-like suspension member having means at one end thereof for securing the same to a suitable support, the other end of said rod being formed in a loop, and the tip end of the loop being bent back out of the plane of the loop to form a hook element adapted to engage the inner surface of the flange on the drum, and an extension carried on said loop portion and adapted to engage the inner edge of the external bead on said flange.

2. In a support for a drum having externally beaded flanges on the ends thereof, a member comprising a rigid suspension member having means atone end thereof for securing the same to a suitable support, a hook element formed on the lower end of said suspension member and adapted to engage the inner surface of the flange on the drum, and a locking element carried by the suspension member adjacent the hook elementand adapted to engage the inner edgeof the external head on said flange to lock the suspension member in engagement with said flange.

3. In a support for a drum having externally beaded flanges on the ends thereof, a suspension member formed of a rod-like-structure having means at one end thereof for securing the same to a suitable support, the other end of said rod being formed in a triangular loop, the base of the trangular loop and portions of the sides thereof being bent back out of the plane of the loop to form a hook element adapted to engage the inner surface of the flange on the drum, anda rigid finger carried by one side of said triangular loop and adapted to engage the inner edge of the external bead on said flange,

4. A supporting member according to claim 3 wherein the means for securing the upper end of said member to a suitable support comprises a portion of said rod bent at rightangles thereto,

' and an end portion of said rod bent back against said right-angle portion, thereby forming an expansible plug.

5. A support for a drum having beaded flanges on the ends thereof, said support comprising a 

